


Ripples of the Sea

by Purpledrapes



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bokuto is a ray of sunshine, Dancing, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Stress Relief, Studying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:49:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5773726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpledrapes/pseuds/Purpledrapes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even the best of us can break under-pressure and Akaashi is no exception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ripples of the Sea

“...the standard equilibrium on this type of relation wholly depends on the circumstances, for example...”  
Hamacho-sensei’s voice drifted on and off in his mind, becoming clear only when he put his effort into paying attention, which in itself took more effort than it should have.  
Akaashi sighed wearily and rubbed his eyes, this would not do, he couldn't afford to be this absent minded and despite his greatest efforts he couldn't understand what the teacher was explaining. Yet he continued to write, to write was on on the board and what he could hear, even if it didn't make any sense. The dots would connect later on, he was sure, just write, just write.  
He could see the shuffling movements of his peers beside him, hear their sniggers being let loose (don't let them distract you Keiji) and against his better judgment turned around to see what had distracted them.  
Flurry movements and white puffed hair. Naturally, he thought.  
The top of Bokuto’s head could be seen from the window of the hallway. Akaashi watched tiredly as Bokuto poked his head to peer into his classroom and poked out of sight again only to appear moments later at the next window. He continued this along the five windows that lined the the wall, owlish eyes scanning the classroom for what Akaashi knew must be himself.  
Akaashi turned away with a quiet sigh and at that moment their teacher noticed that his students’ attentions were elsewhere, turning an interesting shade of red, he marched to the door leading to the hallway then proceeded to open the door with a bang. The sound was accompanied by a startled yelp and a crash which could only be Bokuto, captain and ace of the top leading volleyball team of the country, flailing to the floor in his surprise.  
Not missing an opportunity to rest when given Akaashi rubbed his face with his hands and pressed his head on his desk.  
\-------------------  
“Hey, hey, hey!”  
Akaashi spoon clutter back into his bowel as large hands clasped his shoulder and pushed him back in his enthusiasm.  
“Hello Bokuto-san.” he greeted, lips turned down as he whipped the new stain on his shirt.  
“Hello nothing Akaashi!” he looked up to see Bokuto arm crossed and a pout on his lips, the results cuter than what Akaashi was sure he was aiming for, “Where were you? You didn't come to practice this morning.”  
“I know, I’m sorry, I should have texted you. It seems I overslept.”  
“Overslept!” his arms unfolded and he flopped down to sit beside Akaashi, “That isn't like you Akaashi!”  
“I know; it won't happen again.” He covered his mouth as a yawn let loose.  
“And you're still tired!”  
“I’m fine, thank you for looking out for me Bokuto-san.”  
This earned him a sunny grin and Akaashi looked away before he could get lost in it.  
“No problem Akaashi! But you have to take better care of yourself we can't have my setter too tired to play.”  
He smiled wearily in response, “So, how much trouble are you in with Hamacho-sensei?”  
“Nah, its all good! I just got a warning and that's that. I just really wanted to see you.”  
Akaashi was too busy willing his blush to sweep away than to respond.  
\---------------------  
Akaashi feet tried to instinctively steer him to the direction of the gym but he willed himself to turn away, heading to the other direction and typing on his phone as he walked.

To Haruki-san:  
I’m sorry but could you let Bokuto-san know I can't make it to practice today. Thank you.  
3:34pm

He knew he should have texted Bokuto directly and hated his cowardliness in not doing so but, truly, he could not bring himself to handle Bokuto’s reaction when he found out Akaashi would be missing practice alongside his absence this morning.

Message from Haruki-san:  
sure no problem. u okay?  
3:39pm  
To Haruki-san:  
I’m okay thank you.  
3:40pm  
He stared at his chain dangling from his phone for a moment, an owl shaped figure gifted by Bokuto and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, guilt weighing his steps.  
\---------------------

Akaashi stared at the pages before him, willing himself to focus, begging for the jumbled mess of words to make sense to him. Every minute sat at his desk was painful and long but he could not let that deter him.  
He rubbed his face and let out a groan of frustration, why couldn't he focus, why was he letting himself fall into a pit of failure.  
He could excuse his attitude on being distracted by Bokuto-sans messages and while it was true that he had been receiving countless messages from the white haired thunder of a boy since he got home (to the point where he had had hide his phone out of sight), he knew it was more than that. His mind was out of focus, not in the right frame at all and churning on guilt, fear and five hours of sleep.  
He tapped his pen rigorously on his desk as if to snap himself back into attention.  
When he was a paragraph into his reading he heard a loud knocking, followed by two consecutive ringing of the front doors bell.  
It didn't take a far stretch for him to guess who that could be.  
The obnoxious ringing and knocking continued even as Akaashi strutted towards the front door of his small apartment.  
Bokuto paused, mid-knock, when Akaashi opened door, looking flustered and wind blown. He must have rushed over right after practice.  
Akaashi tried to remember that he should be irritated and not endeared.  
“Akaashi! Are you okay? wha-”  
“Bokuto-san,” he interrupted his breathless stammering, “You shouldn't have knocked like that, it was very rude of you.”  
“I know your parents aren't home at this hour.”  
“Yes, but I have neighbours.”  
“You weren't at practice,” he declared as if in explanation, “and you weren't answering my messages. I got worried.”  
“Well,” he sighed, “you better come in then.”  
Bokuto had already rushed inside before he had finished his sentence, Akaashi closed the door careful and rested his head there for only a moment, as if to give him strength and patience.  
He found Bokuto laying on his bed, his shirt hiked up a little and Akaashi looked away as he sat on the desk’s chair beside his bed.  
Bokuto made a ‘whoosh’ sound as he sat up to face the other boy, eyes hard and uncomfortably focused.  
“Why did you skip practice?” he asked, voice soft but resolute in its request for the truth  
“I needed…” he sighed resigned, “I needed to study.”  
“Study? You don't have any exams coming up do you?”  
“You don't need to have exams coming up to study Bokuto-san.” he replied with a deadpan stare.  
“I know that!” he replied with a huff and what could be sadness etched in his eyebrows, “But the way you're studying now it seems like you do. Your exhausted I can see that and I bet that's what's kept you up so late! Akaashi your super smart and everything you don't need to study this much to do okay.” He had stood up mid-way through with his arms raised as if it would enrich his speech.  
“That's the point Bokuto-san, I don't want to do ‘okay’!” he snapped and instantly felt guilty.  
Realizing his shoulders were hitched up he tried to relax them and rubbed his forehead

“I’m sorry for shouting Bokuto-san...please sit so I can explain.”

Bokuto took a sit at the edge of his bed, giving Akaashi his total attention.

“My mother gives me exams every now and then, to check my progress, to see I’m doing well. I took one the other day and didn't do as well as I should and my parents were not happy.”  
He had meant to stop at this point but he found words, jumbled and scrambled words bubbling itself out to the surface against his will, a ripple disrupting the still and cold surface of the sea.  
“My parents didn't have the chance to do well in school or go into further studies, so they work very hard for me to do well. So, I can't be ‘okay’ you don't understand that I can’t afford to be okay, I don't have that opportunity to ever slack off and I can't let myself and when I got my mark for that test I felt like I was going to die. I wanted to die and mother was so upset, so disappointed and I can’t-I can’t do this Bokuto-san.”  
He clasped his hands over his mouth before he could let anything more bubble out and leaned his forehead on his knees willing himself to calm down and not cry.

Seconds later, he felt a cool hand against his head and Bokuto’s forehead pressed against the side of his own.  
It took him a few minutes, but finally it felt easier to breath again and his lifted his head. Bokuto’s hands slipped off his hair only to take Akashi’s hand in his own. Akaashi gripped the hand like an anchor against the tide.  
Oh, how Bokuto must pity him now.  
“I’m sorry about this Bokuto-san, I know t-”  
“Hey, let me study with you.”  
Akaashi blinked, out of all the responses he expected, this was not one.  
“Huh?”  
“Yeah! Let’s study together!” he snatched Akashi’s text book off his desk and flipped through the pages, “Hey hey heeey! I covered this stuff last year, I totally got this!”  
“I don't-thank you Bokuto-san but I don't think that's necessary.” he sniffed and whipped the lingering wetness off his cheek.  
“Come on, it'll be fun! Let your Senpai teach you a thing or two Akaashi!” he rubbed at Akashi’s hair as he gave him a lopsided and impossibly wide grin.  
He stared at the other boy for a moment before sighing in defeat, “Why not?”  
Bokuto whooped and cheered, far more excited than the situation called for Akaashi thought.  
“Alright! You got any colored paper.”  
“Colored...paper?”  
Bokuto nodded eyes wide as if Akaashi was being slow.  
“Uhh...just a second. I think there's some in the study room.”

\-----------------------

He did admit, it felt easier to be studying with Bokuto, more than he expected it to. For one thing, he could finally breath easy and every word didn't stab him like knives to hear.  
He didn't expect Bokuto to be this focused on a single task like this and while his metaphors and analogies were ridiculous, they made him giggle to the point he had to cover his mouth and turn away, laughter slipped from between his fingers. And they made sense, Akaashi remembered things more easily and hummed the silly songs Bokuto had made for himself in his second years to remember formulas and dates. They played memory games and formed mnemonic devices, quizzed each other on score sheets and in every moment Akaashi heart swelled and smoothed out into something calm, still and grateful.  
He never thought studying could be this easy, this...fun. To make him smile and laugh and miraculously let him remember every word despite the inane methods.

“Okay!” Bokuto sighed, slapping the felt-tip pen he was using the color their timeline poster on the floor, “Break time!”  
“What?” Akaashi found himself genuinely disappointed to stop, looking at the clock he noticed that time had flown far too quickly, far too easily. “We’ve only been at this for an hour.”  
He didn't know what to call what they were doing. Surely it couldn't be studying, studying was gruelling, tiring and filled with stress and long endless hours…this was something else entirely and Akaashi found himself unwilling for it to stop.  
“An hour too long more like! Come on Akaashi!” he stood up from the floor and stretched his arms in the air.  
“It's okay Bokuto-san you go ahead and have a break, you earned it. I can finish this off myself.”  
“Oho no you don't!”  Bokuto fell back to ground and splayed his body against Akashi’s poster with a self satisfied grin, “We’re taking a break together, how do you expect to remember all of this without letting your mind take a breather!”  
“Okay then,” he smiled and tapped the end of his pen on Bokuto’s noise once, earning him a crinkled eyed grin. “You win; I’ll have a break.” Bokuto whooped “But just ten minutes.”  
“That is more than enough!” he lifted himself off the floor and Akaashi lay back with his eyes closed. A ghost of a smile lingering on his lips.  
He lay there, feeling soothed and mind at rest for the first time that day but his eyes slid open when he heard a soft melody accompanied by the sound of twittering birds and leaned up on his elbow to find the source of the sound. Bokuto sat on his bed with his laptop.  
“What are you doing?”  
Bokuto didn't reply, simply bounded over to Akaashi’s side with an outreached arm, aiming for an elegance which was far beyond his hyperactive nature.  
“May I have this dance sir.” his smooth words ruined by the wiggling of his thick brows.  
Akaashi sighed and tried not to smile too widely, knowing how odd and off putting he could look when he did so, but then again did he have to worry about that with Bokuto of all people? He let his grin free loose.  
“Yes, I suppose you may.”  
Bokuto wrapped his arm around the other boy and took his hand on his own. His face forced straight and refined as he aimed for a mock elegant sway across Akaashi’s floor. Bokuto attempts at elegance were, however, ruined when Akaashi poked a finger to Bokuto’s unusually straight face, one poke followed another until Bokuto’s facade dropped and he giggled loudly swatting Akaashi’s hands away and lifting him by the waist for an over enthusiastic spin.  
Akaashi wrapped his arms around the others neck and laughed, cheeks rosy and heart warm.  
The kiss against his lips however, was far warmer.

**Author's Note:**

> Studying can be hard kids but it's okay to take it easy now and then.  
> Plus it's important to find a method of studying that really works for you and not beat yourself over with something that isn't working
> 
> If anyone was wondering about the song Bokuto chose to play it can be found here:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKDHH96cckQ


End file.
